Cut-off device.



W. P. DIGKEY.

GUT-OFF DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. s, 1911.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM F. DICKEY, or LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA.

CUT-OFF DEVICE.

ySpecification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug, 27, 1912, Application med august 9, 1911.

serial No. 643,158.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. DICKEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lynchburg, in t-he count-y of Campbell and State of Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Cut-OH Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved cutoff vdevice adapted for use in dispensing quantities of dry substances, such as powders. salts or granular masses, and has for an object to provide a device of this nature for application to the inlet openings or necks of bottles, jars, cans, and the like, the device being so constructed as to form a closure for the bottle or other article to which the device is applied.

The invention further designs to provide a stopper attachment for a bottle, or the like, having a compartment through which the contents of the bottle must pass, and which may be closed at either end to confine a quantity of the material in the stopper to be dicharged freely when the bottle is inverte The invention essentially comprises anarranged in offset relation with respect to.

each other for alternately closing and opening the stopper at its opposite ends, providing a compartmentbetween the cut-oiis in the stopper which` may be alternately'opened and closed at its opposite ends to receive and to discharge the contents of the bottle as the same pass through the stopper, thestopper carrying a thumb lever connected to the cut-offs to actuate the same by the hand supporting the bottle.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, and to specifically bring out other and further objects, reference is had to the following description and the accompanying drawings disclosing one embodiment of the invention. p

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a bottle having the improved cut oif device applied thereto. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail vertical central section through the device, the front half thereof being -broken away. Fig. 3 is a detail enlarged in which the inner cut-ofi is closed. Fig. 5 is a similar view disclosing the cut-offs in reversed position for filling the stopper.

In the drawings, disclosing one embodiment of the invention, 10 designates a container, disclosed in t-he present instance in the form of a bottle having a suitable neck 11.

The improved cut-off device comprises an elongated tubular body member 12 of a size adapting it to lit loosely within the neck 11 of the container, the member 12 carrying about its'inner or lower end a tapering ring 13 of yielding material, preferably cork, adapted to bind in the neck 11 and securely hold the tubular member 12 in position.

The tubular body member 12 is open at its opposite ends, and is provided toward said ends with upper and lower slots 14 and 15 disposed in the opposite side walls of the tubular member and extending peripherally half way around the same. The upper and lower cut-offs 16 and 17 are arranged to slide Within the slots 14 and 15 respectively, each one of the cut-oifs being in the shape of a flat disk and conforming in size to the inner wall of the tubular member 12 against which it is adapted to snugly engage in order to close the passage through the tubular member. Each cut-ott' is provided With a tangential extension or tongue 18 extending through one end of the slot when the cut-off is closed, the outer edge of the tongue 18 of the upper cut-od 16 being rolled preferably downwardly for fixed engagement about a combined operating and supporting arm 19. The lower cut-ofi' 17 has its tongue 18 preferably rolled upwardly about a combined operating and supporting arm 19. The arms 19 and 19 form turned over opposite ends of a rock shaft 20 arranged against one side of the tubular body lar member 12, providing a thumb lever 21.

A head or enlargement 22 is arranged upon the extremity of the lever 21 for the reception of the thumb or finger of the operator.

when rocking the shaft 20.

The shaft 20 is supported against the side of the tubular member 12 in any adaptable and desired manner, preferably by a .25 of a yielding material, preferably cork, sol

Y60 are held by hthe thumb in this position to bracket. The bracket disclosed in the present instance comprises a flat metallic strip 23 riveted lor otherwise permanently secured in fixed relation, and longitudinally against the side of the member 12, the strip 23 having its opposite' ends turned outwardlysto provide a pair of vertically spaced outstandlng and' registering ears 24, suitably aper-4 tured for rotatably receiving the ends of the rock shaft 20. It will be noted, particularly from Figs. 3 and 4, that thel arms 19 and 19 are turned outwardly from the ends of the rock shaft 20 at an obtuse angle, and that they thereby so: support the cut-offs 16 and 17 that the latterv enter the slots 14 and 15 and alternatel close the passage through the tubular mem er 12.

Normally the lower cut-off 17 is adapted to be closed, asis disclosed in Figs.,1, 2 and 4, and for the purpose of insuring the seal ing of the container 10 an annulus 25 is p0- sitioned within the tubular member imme-` diately below the cut-off 17, and as its upper edge flush with the lower marginal edge of the slot 15. The annulus 25 is made as to iyieldingly bind and support the lower cut-o ring 26 is preferably employed, and is carried against the inner yielding wall of the: annulus 25 and presses against the latter the inner wall of the tubular member 1.2 to

insure the tight fitting of the annulusV der or the like. The space or compartment4 within th'e tubular member 12, and defined by the upper and lower cut-offs 16 and 17,

1s adapted to contain approximately one. dose of powder. In use, the thumb lever 21 is normally placed in toward the memberv .12, closing the lower cut-off 17 which rests upon the upper edge of the annulus 25. In this manner the contents of the bottle are protected from the action of the air by thel ,effective sealing of the lower cut-off by the annulus 25. When it is desired to dischargei the contents from4 the container 10, the 0perator grasps the container and laces a thumb upon the head 22 and swings the 'thumb lever 21 outwardly from the tubular now open while its upper end is closed. The

container is now inverted, while the cut-offs hold the innell end of the stopper open. The' mouth or outer end of the member 12 vis held over a glass, or other receptacle, into which the powder is to be dropped, and the thumb 17 when closed. A reinforcing spring lever 21, by a sli ht pressure, is snapped inwardly to its ful extent, closing the inner end of the stopper to hold the contents within the container, and opening the outer end of the compartment to admit of the discharge of the material into the glass. When the inner cut-off 17 is only half closed, the outer cut-off 17 is half open, and the quantity of material between/the cut-'offs begins to flow from the stopper, leaving a space in thecompartment which is filled for a short time by the flow of the contents from the container. This peculiarity iny construction of the device admits of the discharging of an extra or large dose of material by simply closing the cut-off 17 slowly. Ordinarily slight pressureof the thumb completely closes the inner end of the compartment before aany appreciable amount of the material escapesA past the inner cut-ott' 17, the compartment between the two cut-ofs,therefore, being practically a definite measure.

It will be noted from the drawings that the cut-offs 16 and 17 are so arranged upon the rock shaft 20 that they are not completely withdrawn from the slots 14 and 15, but that their inner edges project slightly into, and are confined within, the slots to -hold the cut-offs in their true position and guide the same in their opening 'and closing movements.

It is readily seen that this cut oif device may be adapted to various other uses than herein described, and that specific variations may be made in the construction of the device within the scope of this invention.

Having fully described my invention what I claim is 1. A cut-off device comprisin a tube having slots in its opposite sides, isks slidable through the slots adapted to close the opposite ends of the tube, a shaft journaled at one side of the tube and having connection at its ends with the disks to reversely move the` latter, and anannulus of yielding material fitting snugly in the lower end of the tube and having` its upper edge Hush with the lower marginal edge of the lower slot to seal the tube when the lower disk is closed., v

2. A cut-off device comprising a straight elongated tube, a tapering annular member carrled about the lower end of the tube adapted to wedge into the neck of a bottle, said tube having at its opposite sides and adjacent its ends circumferential slots extending half-way around the tube, disks slidable through the slots adapted to litsnugly against the inner wall within the tube and close the opposite ends thereof, said disks having extensions at their outer sides extending outwardly from one side of the tube, a bracket disposed vertically against said side of the tube, and a rock-shaft journaled vertically. in the bracket and having its ends turned oppositely and connected t0 my hand in presence of two subscribing said extensions whereby the disk are adapt- Witnesses. ed for reverse movements, an a thumbw piece used with the rock-shaft, adapt-ed to WILLIAM F' DICKLY' alternately open and close the opposite ends Witnesses: of the tube. E. W. BAKER,

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set C. D. ALLEN. 

